A man deemed responsible for a Harrisburg car wreck that claimed the lives of two people was recently sentenced in a local courtroom. After pleading guilty to the charges that resulted from the car accident, the 33-year-old man was sentenced to 2½ to 12 years behind bars at a state prison.
The man accepted blame for a list of charges, which included involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and general impairment DUI, all of which stemmed from the October 2009 accident. The man was leaving a restaurant where he worked as a chef. He had apparently been drinking in the moments before he got behind the wheel.
En route to his destination, the man swerved into the lane of oncoming traffic and struck a cab. The cab driver and a female passenger were killed in the wreck. A male passenger in the cab, the husband of the deceased, was also seriously injured.
Family members of the female victim pointed out that their daughter, who was out celebrating that night, chose to do the right thing by taking a cab instead of getting behind the wheel after drinking. In contrast, not only was the chef legally impaired behind the wheel of his vehicle, but early police reports stated that he was texting while he was driving.
The guilty man made a tearful statement in court, assuring everyone in attendance that he was not a monster and sometimes wondered if he would have been better off having not survived the crash, in which he was also injured. The statement didn’t seem to resonate with the family of the victims. The husband of the female victim even told the man he would never forgive him.
Forgiveness is hard to come by in tragic accidents like these, and remorse can’t make up for the emotional and financial hardships victims’ families suffer. What can make a difference is a successful wrongful death lawsuit in which survivors receive compensation for the high medical and burial expenses they’ve incurred. Their lives may have been changed forever, but they at least can become financially solvent again with the right legal action.
Source: PennLive.com, “Emotions run high as Andrew Denezza is sentenced for causing crash that killed 2,” Matt Miller, Oct. 8, 2012
· Our firm handles wrongful death cases and many other resolutions to serious accidents. To learn more about our practice, visit our Harrisburg car accident page.